Last time I posted I was suffering from itchy cast syndrome and the great depression of having two broken feet. As of today I have been walking for about two weeks now. Which totally makes living easier for me. But I'm not all well yet. I still have a little more healing to do, plus rebuilding muscle in my legs and not really re-learning how to walk but rather how to walk normally. I can walk but not easily barefoot or up and down stairs. I was told to do physical therapy but to make a long story short I'm not. That may have been a little too short. Yadda yadda yadda, forced to resign, yadda, no money coming in, yadda. I go to the doc on Monday so we will see how much trouble I'm really in.
On a different note, I need to get my knife skills back. I was chopping something the other day and almost took my thumb off, so yea one step at a time i spose.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Holy crappy time
SO
i pretty much gave up on this blog, but I have plenty of time to keep it updated... With what I don;t really know. The recent news is that I have two fractured feet, both bearing fiberglass casts. They are itchy as hell by the way. So basically what happened is, at work I was helping out an intern prep for a cafe station that does the room service and the second dining room of the restaurant/hotel I work at. He came an hour late or something and was kinda of fritzing at the prep he had to do. I had roughly fifteen minutes left till I was going to punch out so i decided to help the kid. Grabbing a stock pot so he could blanch his pasta, ensuring him where all his frozen mise was and where the back ups were. Grabbing him crap left and right so he could start prepping it all out. So I go into the walk in to grab him some butternut squash which is behind a small table designed to keep product off the ground. As I turn around i hop over the corner and onto my right foot. Squeeze POP! Wowee, I thought, what the hell was that? I paced in the walk in rapidly a few times because my initial thought was what the hell kind of pop was that. I thought I had just had a joint that made a funny pop as knees do when you bend them sometimes. But this was an intense pop that sent a surge of pressure throught my entire foot and up my shin. I went out of the walk in and gave him the squash, then ducked into one of the walk ins in the back to put my head on a shelf and silently scream. When I came out of that walk in i slumped over a stainless steel table in agony. Hopping forom area to area one of the sous chef asked me if I was alright. Usually when someone asks you that and you are banged up or bruised you say yea i'll be fine, but in my case, I couldn't put any pressure on the foot whatsoever. It literally felt like there were nails, a lot of the, already jammed in my foot, and every time I would put my foot down they went in even further but veeery slowly. That's jone's fracture #1. #2 came out of my somewhat own stupidity. About a week after my initial injury, I decided that I could hop over to a light switch about fifteen or twenty feet away, maybe less, and turn on a light switch to charge my phone. Well, in the process of doing so, Somehow I had hopped onto my other foot awkwardly and thus snizap and tumbled over. I had figured it was either just bruised or broken in a less sever spot. When I fell from the pain on it i heard a crinkle noise. More like thick cellophane being crumbled for a split second no snap or crack or anything. But I finally went to the er a week after that and found out i had done the same damn thing to my other foot. So after a visit to my very unhappy orthopedic, I am not rocking out dual casts. They itch, they suck, and this blows. I am actually not sleeping right now because of the fact the itching is so intense i can't sleep. SO, you folks, all 0 of you out there that read my blog! Stay tuned, I think I'll be writing in here more often to break the daily boredome of sitting on my ass.
i pretty much gave up on this blog, but I have plenty of time to keep it updated... With what I don;t really know. The recent news is that I have two fractured feet, both bearing fiberglass casts. They are itchy as hell by the way. So basically what happened is, at work I was helping out an intern prep for a cafe station that does the room service and the second dining room of the restaurant/hotel I work at. He came an hour late or something and was kinda of fritzing at the prep he had to do. I had roughly fifteen minutes left till I was going to punch out so i decided to help the kid. Grabbing a stock pot so he could blanch his pasta, ensuring him where all his frozen mise was and where the back ups were. Grabbing him crap left and right so he could start prepping it all out. So I go into the walk in to grab him some butternut squash which is behind a small table designed to keep product off the ground. As I turn around i hop over the corner and onto my right foot. Squeeze POP! Wowee, I thought, what the hell was that? I paced in the walk in rapidly a few times because my initial thought was what the hell kind of pop was that. I thought I had just had a joint that made a funny pop as knees do when you bend them sometimes. But this was an intense pop that sent a surge of pressure throught my entire foot and up my shin. I went out of the walk in and gave him the squash, then ducked into one of the walk ins in the back to put my head on a shelf and silently scream. When I came out of that walk in i slumped over a stainless steel table in agony. Hopping forom area to area one of the sous chef asked me if I was alright. Usually when someone asks you that and you are banged up or bruised you say yea i'll be fine, but in my case, I couldn't put any pressure on the foot whatsoever. It literally felt like there were nails, a lot of the, already jammed in my foot, and every time I would put my foot down they went in even further but veeery slowly. That's jone's fracture #1. #2 came out of my somewhat own stupidity. About a week after my initial injury, I decided that I could hop over to a light switch about fifteen or twenty feet away, maybe less, and turn on a light switch to charge my phone. Well, in the process of doing so, Somehow I had hopped onto my other foot awkwardly and thus snizap and tumbled over. I had figured it was either just bruised or broken in a less sever spot. When I fell from the pain on it i heard a crinkle noise. More like thick cellophane being crumbled for a split second no snap or crack or anything. But I finally went to the er a week after that and found out i had done the same damn thing to my other foot. So after a visit to my very unhappy orthopedic, I am not rocking out dual casts. They itch, they suck, and this blows. I am actually not sleeping right now because of the fact the itching is so intense i can't sleep. SO, you folks, all 0 of you out there that read my blog! Stay tuned, I think I'll be writing in here more often to break the daily boredome of sitting on my ass.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Oh Iphone
Alright, so I've already activated my phone, took about 10 minutes on itunes, pertty decent. I have not tried to make any calls yet or receive any, I've been playing around with all the cool gadgetry that is on this thing, pretty slick and smooth, I must say, overall first impression wicked sexy. I'll obviously keep and update as to how it manages through my hectic life.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Iphone
Ok ok before everyone starts bitching on my new decision to sink in and get an Iphone let me just say, eat me.
After being an Iphone hater from day one, just like the ipod, I've sunk in and learned to adore it. Everyone who hates on the Iphone let's just get real, everything aside the Iphone is really f***ing cool!!!
et's take my old phone why don't we. Motorola I850. I can't say it was a bad phone, but it really had its life. It's at the point where the battery life is about a good 7 hours reguardless of how much you talk or just let it sit there. It's also a pretty rugged phone, its been dropped, slammed, thrown, cracked, kicked, shocked, etc etc etc. It still works however. But my main problem with it, Nextel Sprint.... I mean, sure its great if your in the middle of the city standing next to a tower, but let's jsut be honest, It blows. Please wait while the nextel subscriber is being located. Ok ok not all phone services are great. Infact, most if not all of them are criminal.
So then lets just head back to the gadgetry why don't we.
The Iphone still misses a few things which are confusing as to why they weren't included in the first place. GPS for one is a bit of an odd issue. At&t carrier as another. Ok cingular and At&t not a bad carrier at all, but whats this? wifi access only 150 access points available per month? LThat's a bit retarded. Yet they add an unlimited data transfer for a 20 dollar additional over a regular service plan, that is pretty nifty.
Battery life, I think it all depends upon the iphone that you receive, with a mix of variables such as, how you use it and what all you have turned on feature wise. I know a few people with this Iphone, not one has had a problem. One person had the infamous lock slider lock problem where the phone deems unresponsive when your trying to use it. A simple off off worked for him, a simple reset works for everyone else. Battery life was told to be about 2 days on a out of box charge. That's pretty impressive. I guess only time will tell, and by time I mean Tomarrow.
Here are some pictures of my current phone selection. The Iphone will be a pretty damned switch.
After being an Iphone hater from day one, just like the ipod, I've sunk in and learned to adore it. Everyone who hates on the Iphone let's just get real, everything aside the Iphone is really f***ing cool!!!
et's take my old phone why don't we. Motorola I850. I can't say it was a bad phone, but it really had its life. It's at the point where the battery life is about a good 7 hours reguardless of how much you talk or just let it sit there. It's also a pretty rugged phone, its been dropped, slammed, thrown, cracked, kicked, shocked, etc etc etc. It still works however. But my main problem with it, Nextel Sprint.... I mean, sure its great if your in the middle of the city standing next to a tower, but let's jsut be honest, It blows. Please wait while the nextel subscriber is being located. Ok ok not all phone services are great. Infact, most if not all of them are criminal.
So then lets just head back to the gadgetry why don't we.
The Iphone still misses a few things which are confusing as to why they weren't included in the first place. GPS for one is a bit of an odd issue. At&t carrier as another. Ok cingular and At&t not a bad carrier at all, but whats this? wifi access only 150 access points available per month? LThat's a bit retarded. Yet they add an unlimited data transfer for a 20 dollar additional over a regular service plan, that is pretty nifty.
Battery life, I think it all depends upon the iphone that you receive, with a mix of variables such as, how you use it and what all you have turned on feature wise. I know a few people with this Iphone, not one has had a problem. One person had the infamous lock slider lock problem where the phone deems unresponsive when your trying to use it. A simple off off worked for him, a simple reset works for everyone else. Battery life was told to be about 2 days on a out of box charge. That's pretty impressive. I guess only time will tell, and by time I mean Tomarrow.
Here are some pictures of my current phone selection. The Iphone will be a pretty damned switch.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Continuation
When your average person thinks of a cook or a chef they think of kitchens, stains, chef whites, pots and pans, heat, fire and sweating. The whole world of culinary doesn't live in an oven or on top a stove the entire time.
The art of Garde Manger. Cold side.
Now I know your thinking ahh well anyone can mix a salad together or do this and that that are considered cold side. But things do get complicated, and like everything there is technique to it all. When you make yourself a salad at home how do you do it? Slop some lettuce and veggies together in a big bowl, then clamp the pieces onto your dinner plate and douse with dressing? Not so when you go out is it? You have those pretty looking salads, that are so delicate yet contain so much depth to them. Height? Flavor? Seasoning? Basically your salads should always come to you in perfection. If not, send it back and request another that is damn perfect. I'm not really a big salad guy but I have received my fair share of crappy salads. A frisee salad that is nothing more than an over dressed hunk of frisee that hadn't been trimmed or destemmed, that's beautiful guys. Or hunks of stalk, wilted greens, cold salads that aren't cold?
Anyway, here's a little insert of some of the depth that is required to create even a simple fruit plate. For instance, I work at Lacroix, which is widely recognized in Philadelphia as a beautiful place. So, anyone can cut up some fruit and put it on a plate. Why would someone come to Lacroix specifically to get one? Well, they expect it to be perfect and amazing. So When asked to create an extravagant fruit plate for a VIP here's what I came up with.
Pitted halved cherries, cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple, Asian pear, peach, watermelon (yellow and red), grapes and grapefruit
The art of Garde Manger. Cold side.
Now I know your thinking ahh well anyone can mix a salad together or do this and that that are considered cold side. But things do get complicated, and like everything there is technique to it all. When you make yourself a salad at home how do you do it? Slop some lettuce and veggies together in a big bowl, then clamp the pieces onto your dinner plate and douse with dressing? Not so when you go out is it? You have those pretty looking salads, that are so delicate yet contain so much depth to them. Height? Flavor? Seasoning? Basically your salads should always come to you in perfection. If not, send it back and request another that is damn perfect. I'm not really a big salad guy but I have received my fair share of crappy salads. A frisee salad that is nothing more than an over dressed hunk of frisee that hadn't been trimmed or destemmed, that's beautiful guys. Or hunks of stalk, wilted greens, cold salads that aren't cold?
Anyway, here's a little insert of some of the depth that is required to create even a simple fruit plate. For instance, I work at Lacroix, which is widely recognized in Philadelphia as a beautiful place. So, anyone can cut up some fruit and put it on a plate. Why would someone come to Lacroix specifically to get one? Well, they expect it to be perfect and amazing. So When asked to create an extravagant fruit plate for a VIP here's what I came up with.
Pitted halved cherries, cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple, Asian pear, peach, watermelon (yellow and red), grapes and grapefruit
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Hardened Thoughts
Today, miraculously, is a day where I have off. What I mean by that is I don't have to work at the place where my primary income comes from. I do, however, still have to work. Ive been on my own for close to three to four years now and you'd think I'd have it down by now. Still a little sloppy and still a little immature I suppose. I cleaned the apartment and it's still a mess. Laundry that desperately wants to be done. I cleaned my dishes but they need to be put away. I guess I will just leave them there and let the dirty dishes collect around them. And if I need one, I can just grab it from the pile. Good think'n!
Monday and Tuesday we were double scheduled at work so I was thrown onto prep for our brunch. I don;t really see what all the fuss is about. I started off here and things went fine. Now we have one kid who does it, with the obvious help of many, and we seem to always be behind on prep. Well the past two days I knocked out about a quarter of the prep list. Granted its an amazingly large prep list, but what the hell are these kids doing?! One of the interns took eight hours to hand char tinkerbell peppers and then peel them. EVERYONE was riding his ass for that because that is just an incredible waste of time. I decided to see how long it would take me. It took me two and a half hours to char, peel, pit and stuff the peppers. Now that just boggles my mind someone can be that lazy.
Generally I don't carry my camera with me in the kitchen; if I were to whip it out at random and someone saw me they would probably just grab it and throw it in the fryalator. I do carry it with me everywhere else though. But the past few days I have been pocketing my camera into the kitchen. Mainly because I love my kitchen and I would love to just take pictures like crazy in it. But I think it will become a regular annoyance of things in my pockets in the kitchen because I would like to capture some of the things I do there. We have a lot of freedom to create in the kitchen and as long as it works, tastes good and looks pretty chances are it'll pass.
The only thing I have to show today though is proof that I make some really damn good mushrooms. This is a container full of sauted mushrooms for brunch. They are in the walk in cooling down. Before, they were creamed with a chicken stock reduction heavy cream and beurre monte at the end. Now we just saute them off, deglaze with mediera. But I love how the oyster mushrooms look with a hard sear on hteir gills, it is a very clean look. The other mushrooms are Crimini or baby portabello and shiitake. I think that you will be seeing oyster mushrooms on my menu.
Monday and Tuesday we were double scheduled at work so I was thrown onto prep for our brunch. I don;t really see what all the fuss is about. I started off here and things went fine. Now we have one kid who does it, with the obvious help of many, and we seem to always be behind on prep. Well the past two days I knocked out about a quarter of the prep list. Granted its an amazingly large prep list, but what the hell are these kids doing?! One of the interns took eight hours to hand char tinkerbell peppers and then peel them. EVERYONE was riding his ass for that because that is just an incredible waste of time. I decided to see how long it would take me. It took me two and a half hours to char, peel, pit and stuff the peppers. Now that just boggles my mind someone can be that lazy.
Generally I don't carry my camera with me in the kitchen; if I were to whip it out at random and someone saw me they would probably just grab it and throw it in the fryalator. I do carry it with me everywhere else though. But the past few days I have been pocketing my camera into the kitchen. Mainly because I love my kitchen and I would love to just take pictures like crazy in it. But I think it will become a regular annoyance of things in my pockets in the kitchen because I would like to capture some of the things I do there. We have a lot of freedom to create in the kitchen and as long as it works, tastes good and looks pretty chances are it'll pass.
The only thing I have to show today though is proof that I make some really damn good mushrooms. This is a container full of sauted mushrooms for brunch. They are in the walk in cooling down. Before, they were creamed with a chicken stock reduction heavy cream and beurre monte at the end. Now we just saute them off, deglaze with mediera. But I love how the oyster mushrooms look with a hard sear on hteir gills, it is a very clean look. The other mushrooms are Crimini or baby portabello and shiitake. I think that you will be seeing oyster mushrooms on my menu.
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